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Youth unemployment is robbing people of hope

With the Canadian youth unemployment rate now at 14.7 per cent it&rsquo;s an especially bad time to be young and out of work.

Sun., March 11, 2012

The kids aren’t all right — at least when it comes to finding work. That’s the depressing picture captured in the latest statistical snapshot of Canadian employment.

February was an especially cruel month for those 15 to 24 years of age, with 27,000 fewer people in this group having jobs. And while the unemployment rate for Canada as a whole stands at 7.4 per cent, it’s about double that — or 14.7 per cent — for younger workers.

The seriousness of their plight was underlined in a recent report by TD Economics, which found the young are bearing the brunt of the recession. Of more than 430,000 net jobs lost over the course of the recent downturn, more than half were concentrated among those under 25. Even after the recession’s end, the recovery has been almost non-existent for youth.

“It is clearly evident,” wrote authors of the report, “that Canadian youth are facing an uphill battle, which will persist for some time.” But how much longer can many of these young people hold on without surrendering to despair?

Liberal finance critic Scott Brison was not exaggerating when he warned “an entire generation of Canadians is losing hope.”

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Their prospects are likely to dwindle further. Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty clearly intends to deliver an austerity budget later this month, aggressively cutting government spending and trimming public sector payrolls. And Ottawa recently moved to scrap Canada’s 300 student employment centres, which specialize in helping young people find jobs.

That cutback couldn’t have come at a worse time for this country’s struggling youth. In light of Canada’s overall job stagnation, several observers are calling for more federal attention to be paid to stimulating — or at least preserving — employment.

And if anyone deserves more government investment in job creation it’s young job seekers. Official websites are helpful in offering job search, resumé writing and interview tips. But practical, hands-on aid is essential. Changing the existing system so that it provides more apprenticeships would be a significant step forward.

It’s the least Canadians can do for a generation that’s brimming with potential yet still struggling.

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